Kenyan military jails two elite soldiers for looting during Westgate mall siege in Nairobi

CCTV footage during the siege appeared to show soldiers leaving stores with plastic shopping bags.

News Online Sydney

Kenya's military has jailed two soldiers found guilty of looting during last month's Nairobi mall siege in which almost 70 people were killed.

Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) chief Julius Karangi announced the military action against the members of a special combat unit in a rare press conference called by the country's security chiefs.

"Discipline is our core driving point and we are not playing with this issue. That is why we have taken action on these soldiers," General Karangi said, adding that the guilty men had stolen mobile phones and cameras.

He also announced that a third soldier is facing a court martial after being found in possession of a mobile phone that was suspected of being stolen.

However, General Karangi rejected reports of systematic, large-scale looting by KDF troops, showing video at the press conference which he claimed countered such arguments.

At least 67 people were killed when Somali al Shabaab militants raided the upmarket Westgate mall on September 21, hurling grenades and spraying bullets at shoppers as a punishment for Kenya sending troops to Somalia.

Cash missing from shop tills

Kenyans initially praised the soldiers but their support evaporated as shop owners returned to the mall to find their stores ransacked, with many reporting phones, expensive Swiss watches and designer suits stolen.

Cash from tills was also missing as well as jewellery, traders said, while footage from inside the mall uploaded on social media showed one cafe littered with empty beer bottles.

KDF chiefs initially denied any looting had taken place, saying the soldiers had only taken water bottles from a supermarket to quench their thirst.

A parliamentary inquiry into the Westgate siege completely exonerated the soldiers.

Kenyan media have heavily criticised the army, which until now has been viewed as one of the country's most professional institutions, rarely mired in the frequent corruption scandals that have tainted the police and civil service over the years.

The general also confirmed that investigations are continuing against four administrative police and two civilians suspected of looting.

He added that police are still holding five suspects in relation to the attack.

More than one month after the Westgate attack - the worst on Kenyan soil since Al Qaeda bombed the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing more than 200 people - little is still known about how the militants carried out their raid.

Officials say as few as four gunmen may have carried out the attack, down from initial government estimates of 10-15, leaving many Kenyans questioning how such a small group could have held off hundreds of elite soldiers for four days.